This was
Mapo-Nasu with a local farmer's eggplants.
We bought these cute happy round eggplants at a local farm stand. They were so fresh!
Making
Mapo-Nasu with the eggplants was J's idea.
Mapo-Nasu is the eggplant (
Nasu in Japanese) version of
Mapo-Tofu, a classic Sichuan dish made with Tofu, minced pork and spicy black bean and chili sauce. It's popular in Japan. I didn't have black bean chili paste, so used
Gochujang, a Korean spicy
Miso paste. It actually worked nicely. The farmer's eggplants were lovely tender and smooth, but not mushy. They tasted wonderful in this spicy meaty sauce. Yum!
